City Council Approves Money for Downtown Shopping Center

The City Council voted 3-1 Wednesday evening to spend $45,000 a year for the next 10 years to develop a retail center at First Street and 13th Avenue in one of the most under served area's of the city.

The retail center is designed to attract a 16,000-square-foot grocery store to serve the Washington Park and Singletary areas of the city. Other possible businesses include a bank, restaurant and other services and retail.

While the City Council voted to support the development council members did add stipulations to the agreement. Council members wanted to be sure that if the grocery store — the centerpiece of the development — fails the city will not be on the hook for an annual payment of $45,000. Council members also want the plans to come back to them if Save-A-Lot doesn't sign a contract to come to the development and another grocery store takes its place.

Even with the stipulations, Councilman Bemis Smith, describing himself as a fiscal conservative and saying he didn't believe the project gets "the bang for the buck," voted against spending on the development.

Before the discussions began about the project, Councilman Harold Byrd asked his fellow councilmembers to keep politics out of the discussion, saying that the project would be an economic development catalyst for the area.

The grocery store project is designed to help revitalize the area, provide much needed services to the neighborhood and create jobs in the city. Developers estimate that the $6 million project will create 90 temporary jobs, including construction jobs. It will also create about two dozen permanent retail jobs. Once it is completed, the development is expected to generate about $38,000 in tax revenues for the city.

Subsidies are key to making the business plan work, Cary Neil of the New Start Community Development told city council members. In order to attract the grocery store and other businesses, Neil said they will try to keep rents below $15 a square foot, less than half the current market rate. Because rents would remain low, Neil estimated that the real value of the development would be about $3 million, even though it will cost more to build.

Several residents spoke in favor of the project saying that having services close by will benefit the nearby residents, especially those that don't drive.A recent survey of about 300 residents of Washington Park found that about 77 percent of those surveyed want a grocery store in that area.

While the developers still have not signed a contract with Save-A-Lot, Neil said he expects construction on the shopping center to begin in August and for construction to be complete by early next year.

“Please understand our community is depending on you to deliver,” Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey told the developer during the meeting.